


Late Night Gaming

by RogueFoxPaws



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Cabin trip, F/M, Pre-Disappearance of Hannah and Beth, can't sleep, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 04:18:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16151456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueFoxPaws/pseuds/RogueFoxPaws
Summary: When Ashley is unable to sleep, she goes downstairs and finds someone who might could help.





	Late Night Gaming

**Author's Note:**

> This work is before Hannah and Beth disappear. It's implied in the writing that Emily and Mike are still a couple. I wanted to write some pre-wendigo fun.

It had been a long, tiring day. Between loading up three vehicles, driving for hours, hauling luggage to the bus stop, loading said luggage into the cable car, and then finally getting everyone’s bags into the cabin, the sight of spacious, soft beds was a welcome one. Of course Hannah, Beth, and Josh immediately went up to take their belongings to their rooms, while the others laid claim on the remaining available rooms. Chris and Josh shared space in Josh’s room, and Matt, Emily, and Mike took the smaller guest bedroom, which came with an hour of Mike figuring out how to inflate his air mattress.

“You just stick it on there and flip the switch,” Sam instructed, “It’s not rocket science.”

Jess, Ashley, and Sam took the Washington’s master bedroom. The plush king-sized bed was large enough for Jess and Ashley to share comfortably; Sam had opted for the pull-out couch bed in the sitting area, stating her light sleeping habits often had her up walking around at night.

It really had been a great trip up to the mountain. Everyone was excited to take a break from classes and just have some fun. The night started out with handmade pizzas and board games and eventually led into a fierce battle of Cards Against Humanity. At one point, Josh had discovered his parents’ liquor cabinet and swung the doors open.

“Oh man, what have we here?” There was the sound of glass moving when Josh pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “Now it’s a party, huh?”

“Dude, really? Your parents will be so pissed.” Chris stood across the kitchen island from Josh and put down his hand of cards.

“They won’t even know it’s gone. My dad keeps a little of everything in here.”

“Josh, come on,” Beth gave her brother a scowl and crossed her arms, “Don’t act like this.”

“One drink. Just to have a taste.” Josh got two short whiskey glasses out of the cabinet and set them down on the counter. “Come on Chris, cochise. You and me, to good times this weekend.” He poured some of the amber liquid into each glass and slid one over to Chris.

“Ugh, I never did care for this stuff. Reminds me of my uncle and his drunk antics each New Year.”

“Worst party ever.” Ashley was standing next to Sam at the end of the kitchen island, the two girls playing as one team in the card game. She picked a card out of Sam’s hand and laid it on the pile of others as she shook her head. “I never knew the human leg could bend and break in such a way until I saw your uncle jump off the porch.”

“Yeah, was _kind of_ hoping you might forget that one…” Chris swished the drink around the glass and smelled it, his nose scrunching up in protest. “Still strong as always.”

Josh raised his glass towards Chris and grinned. “To long, warm nights and crazy, wild days, know what I mean?”

Chris tapped his glass to Josh’s with a _clink_. “Sure, man. To long, warm nights.” Chris took a drink of the whiskey and Ashley laughed as his face twisted in quick reply. At the same time, he and Josh both finished the second drink, with Chris putting his glass down and Josh adding more to his own glass.

Mike looked up, wide-eyed. “Jesus, Josh, easy. We’re not exactly within driving distance of a hospital to get your stomach pumped.”

“Relax, man. Last one, I swear.” Josh took his third drink and rejoined the evening’s antics. As the game went on, Ashley noticed Chris’ cheeks growing red from the alcohol. She had never seen him drunk, but knew that he would occasionally taste samples, mostly with Josh when they would get everyone together for online gaming nights. As the hours grew late, one by one they headed to bed. Mike and Emily first, Matt uncomfortably following minutes later. Hannah and Beth climbed the stairs next with Chris, Ashley, Sam, and Jess all calling it a night right after. Josh gathered up what little dishes were around and followed behind Chris.

Curled up under the warm blankets, seconds seemed to drag on forever as Ashley struggled to fall asleep. She knew she was tired, so then why couldn’t she sleep? Rolling back over towards the night stand, she picked up her phone. 2:18 AM. She tried to close her eyes and count sheep, she rolled onto her back and tried to stare at the ceiling, she even tried to bury her face in the pillow, but that only made it harder to breathe which, in turn, made her more awake. Giving up, she crawled out from under the heavy down comforter, careful not to wake Jess, and put on her hoodie. There was a cold chill in the room and her pajama shorts did no good in keeping her warm. Carefully, she opened the bedroom door and slid out into the hall, keeping as quiet as she could. She came to the top of the staircase when she noticed a light coming from the TV downstairs. Someone else was awake. Walking on the balls of her feet, Ashley peered down over the railing as she came down the wooden steps.

It was Chris. He was leaned back against the arm of the couch, headset over his ears, PlayStation controller in hand. He was wearing one of his grey t-shirts and a pair green flannel pants, his classic attire for late nights spent online. _Of course he’d be up this late playing games. He hardly ever sleeps anyway._ Ashley crept around the side of the couch and made a point to wave at Chris so as not to scare him. It was no use as his arms still jerked up when he saw her.

“Jesus, Ash!” He took his headset off and hit pause on the game. “I didn’t expect anyone else to be up.”

“You and me both.” She looked at the TV screen. “Shadow of Mordor? Nice. Mind if I watch?”

“Sure.” Chris sat up and moved his feet from the space beside him to the coffee table. “Can’t sleep?”

“No. Thought maybe I could come down here and read or attempt to summon the Netflix gods.” She settled in on the couch next to Chris and propped her feet up next to his. “Looks like you beat me to it, though. What are you still doing up, anyway?”

“Uh…” Chris flicked the control sticks nervously, avoiding her eyes. “Weird dreams. The whiskey. Alcohol never does good on my sleep habits. I tend to have… bad dreams… with it…”

As his voice trailed off, Ashley could tell there was more on his mind. She was always able to know when she could prod Chris and get him to open to up to her and when to leave it be; she could sense this was one of those times to do the latter.

“It’s just a dream,” she told him softly. He was looking down at the controller in his hands, the bright screen putting a glare on his glasses. “Whatever it was about, it wasn’t real. You’re here on this super comfy couch, your friends are here with you, and I’m here.” She nudged him lightly with her shoulder and gave him a smile. “Don’t let it fool you into thinking something that’s not true.”

Chris nodded and finally looked at her. “I know. I have to keep reminding myself of that.” He returned the gentle smile Ashley had given him. “Thanks, as always.” Handing her the controller, he added, “You wanna play a little bit?”

“Sure.” She took the controller and started the game up again. Ashley was fairly good at video games, but she wasn’t perfect. Fifteen minutes in and she was already stuck repeatedly dying in one spot.

“Wow, you’re really bad at this,” Chris teased. His comment had earned him a kick on the ankle from Ashley that sent his feet falling off the coffee table.

“Says the guy who taught me how to play this game,” she retorted. After unsuccessfully progressing once again, Ashley handed the controller back to Chris. “Here, I’m done. I’ll watch.”

Chris took the game back up again, the clicking of buttons combined with his concentrated, rhythmic breathing slowly making Ashley grow tired. At one point, she had nodded off, jerking awake when her chin hit her chest. Still, she fought to stay awake, eventually having to give up the fight. Without even thinking, she laid her head on Chris’ shoulder. At first, he was surprised, not even realizing she had dozed off. Pausing the game again, he shifted around to where they were both stretched out on the couch - Chris flat on his back, one knee up, and Ashley’s head resting just underneath his collarbone, asleep right beside him. Making sure she wasn’t going to wake up, Chris wrapped his arm around Ashley’s back, gently draping it over her, as he once again took up the controller in both hands. It wasn’t much longer afterwards that sleep eventually crept over Chris. He was just barely able to set the controller on the coffee table and hit the power button on the TV remote before his eyes closed and he was dreaming.

—-

“Oh my gosh, you guys. You have to see this.”

Ashley could hear footsteps around her, and- was someone laughing?

“I knew it. Those two are just the cutest.”

Slowly, Ashley opened her eyes, just barely enough to see faint sunlight in the room.

“Good morning, sleepyheads.” Ashley could hear the smile in Sam’s voice as she turned her head. At first, she wondered why everyone had come into the room to watch her sleep. It took her a moment to realize, it wasn’t her pillow she was laying on, though. Fully opening her eyes, she saw that she had fallen asleep on the couch, but not by herself. She was curled up next to Chris, one of his arms around her, while the other was up near his head as he rubbed his eyes under his glasses. She bolted upright and the sudden movement had startled Chris, almost sending him over the couch before he caught himself.

“Whoa, hey, good morning.” He looked around, seeing the rest of his friends gathered around the couch. “Am I late for pancakes?”

“Well, we thought we’d just let you lovebirds sleep in a little longer, really.” Josh leaned over the back of the couch with a sly grin stretched across his face. Chris looked at him and then saw Ashley at the end of the couch, her hands covering her mouth as she stared back at him with wide eyes.

“Uh, h-hey, Ash.” Chris sat up and ran a hand through his hair. Everyone was staring at them, trying to hold back laughter.

“I’m just… gonna go… change.” Ashley jumped up from the couch and motioned for Sam to follow her upstairs. When the two girls made it in the bedroom, Ashley shut the door behind her, sliding into the floor cross-legged.

“Oh my god, Sam… I’m never going to live this down.” Her copper hair spilled around her hands as she held her head.

“It’ll be okay, Ash. Besides, for what it’s worth,” Sam sat down in the floor and scooted next to her, “you two really are adorable together.”

Ashley let out a defeated groan and leaned back against the door. Sam put an arm around her friend’s shoulders and smiled. “I think it’s going to be an interesting weekend.”

—-

The smell of pancakes and bacon filled the cabin when Ashley and Sam made their way back downstairs. Ashley hadn’t really changed, the only difference being that she had pulled her hair back and slipped on a pair of fuzzy socks. She was glad to see most everyone else was still in their pajamas, too, especially Chris, who was sitting at the end of the kitchen island, swiveling back and forth in the tall chair.

Josh, Hannah, and Beth helped everyone get plates while Jess and Emily helped with the food. When everyone had finished eating and headed back to their rooms to change, Chris stayed behind and caught Ashley before she headed back up the staircase.

“Hey, Ashley? About last night…” There was that adorable blush creeping back up into Chris’ face. This time, though, he wouldn’t be able to blame it on the alcohol. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I was tired, you had already fallen asleep, and… I don’t know. I’m really sorry, though. Honestly.”

“It’s okay.” She had her hands in her hoodie pocket and smiled at him. “It was late and we were both exhausted. I know you, Chris. I trust you. Besides,” she stepped closer to him and took one of her hands out to poke him in the arm, “you make a comfy pillow.” They shared a laugh before Ashley made her way up the stairs. Chris watched her with a smile and she felt a comforting warmth growing within her that wasn’t because of her hoodie.

Yeah, it was definitely going to be an interesting weekend.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Chris and Ashley are my favorites, so I hope you enjoyed reading about them as much I enjoyed writing about them!


End file.
